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Weather department to boost range of radars to track cyclones better

The recent cyclone that ruined the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat has raised doubts over the weather prediction mechanism infrastructure in the country.

Currently, the Indian Meteorological Department utilises four radars on the western coast for weather observation, especially to monitor the approaching cyclones.

These radars, located at Bhuj in Gujarat, Bombay, Goa and Kochi, are capable of observing or locating an approaching cyclone from the coast within a range of 400 km. However, a senior scientist from the Indian Space and Research Organisation office at Ahmedabad, on condition of anonymity, said there was a need to enhance this capacity to 600 km.

If the range is increased, the observations will be more accurate, as the IMD will get more time to track the path of the cyclone. When the scientist was asked about the use of satellites in the weather-forecast mechanism, he said, "Satellites observe weather-related data like wind velocity, cloud concentration and patterns from the top, and hence there are chances of inaccuracies or errors. Whereas radars observe things from a very close range -- and if the existing infrastructure is enhanced, the prediction mechanism will be more accurate."

The scientist said India already has satellites that are used for weather prediction, and to analyse the data supercomputers are available. If the data collection mechanism is also improved or enhanced, the prediction and forecasts will be more accurate, as everything is based on data provided to the weather department, he said.

He disclosed that very soon an upgradation programme will be undertaken and the IMD will be using the next-generation radars. The Indian Space Research Research Organisation is partly involved in manufacturing these radars. He further stated that the Insat-2E satellite, which is expected to be launched by this year-end, will also enhance the weather observation facilities. These satellites will have an additional channel to observe water vapour bands.

The Insats which are in orbit currently, record the cloud imagery data, which is processed at the meteorological data utilisation centre at New Delhi and disseminated to the users through 20 secondary data utilisation centres. These data, along with data from the radars, are used for weather forecasts. Thus, enhancing the capacity of the radars becomes important, the scientist said.

About the weather bureau's alleged failure to predict the path of the Gujarat cyclone, a senior IMD official said it was a natural calamity, "and our timely forecast have saved thousands of lives." He said before hitting the Gujarat coast, the cyclone took almost half-a-dozen zigzag paths and the exact prediction was really difficult. However, a warning was already issued in advance to the concerned people.

UNI

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